Letwin1

Pierce Letwin

Mrs. Stevens & Mrs. Radcliffe

Life Science

13 January 2017

Which Color Balloon Will Expand the Farthest Using a Chemical Reaction?

The first rubber balloons were made by Professor Michael Faraday. He made balloons by

cutting two round sheets of rubber and laid them together and pressed the edges towards each

other. The sticky rubber automatically joined together. And before he stuck them together, he put

flour on the inside of it to avoid the opposite sides from joining together. The rubber material

was very elastic. When it is expanded by hydrogen, the balloons become very light and are able

to float (The). As a kid i have always enjoyed playing with them and doing tricks with them so

that fascinated me into to doing this experiment. If you watch a green, blue, orange, and yellow

balloon fill up with carbon dioxide, then the orange balloon with expand the farthest.

What Properties of a Balloon Allow it Expand?

Studies show that balloons are made of very long and stretchy molecules. The structure

of it is a bunch of strands that twist around each other like a plate of spaghetti. The molecules

within the walls start to stretch when the balloon is expanding. The structure begins to open and

the walls become thinner. These long molecular strands are not able to pack close together and

have many places where gases can diffuse through. The gas molecules travel through bigger

pores as they pass through the walls. The challenge to inflating a balloon is to produce more gas

than is escaping. The volume of gas within a balloon can be increased either through heat
 Letwin2

expansion or a chemical reaction (UCSB).

How Does Heat Cause Gases in The Balloon to Expand?

The gases such as the helium, which is inside of it, conformed to the shape of the

container. All the gas molecules spread out and divide evenly so the balloon will not become

lopsided (Balzer). The gas molecules move straight as far as they can go until they hit the

balloons wall or another gas molecule. The molecules will then bounce back and start in

another direction until they hit another object. The current temperature at the time will change

the average kinetic energy. When the gas molecules get heated up and their kinetic energy

increases. This means they will move faster and have more frequent collisions and the balloon

will expand. If the balloon is cooled, the average kinetic energy inside it will decrease. This

means that they move much slower and have weaker and less frequent collisions (Buddies).

How Does Chemical Reaction Cause Gases in The Balloon to Expand?

When two chemical substances blend, whatever is trapped inside will expand. The only

reason the reactants react with each other is because they are exchanging atoms. But in this case

of mixing baking soda and vinegar together, the reaction produces water and carbon dioxide. The

chemical names of the ingredients for vinegar is acetic acid and for baking soda is sodium

bicarbonate. They are exchanging protons, which is a subatomic particle that makes atoms. You

may also think of a proton as one hydrogen atom which has an electron removed. The baking

soda acts as a base, and takes a vinegar proton, which is an acid. This reaction releases gases

because when receiving the proton the baking soda transforms into water and carbon dioxide

(Happens).

What is the Difference between Different Colors of Balloons?

 Letwin3

Different types of colored balloons can break down differently when the balloon has too

much pressure contained inside of it. Other colors when expanded can shred or explode into

dozens of tiny pieces. The metallic sheen of a balloon acquires from the same approaches used in

self made automobile paint jobs, which is the addition of a powdered mica or aluminum. Some

particles in the latex are powdered and thought of as involvements. Each powdered particle can

be thought of as being like one chasm in a line of holes between a check and stub. If you pull

hard enough on a check and stub perpendicular to the line of perforations, a tear will run from

hole to hole. If you have a sheet of paper that you equally distribute an amount of force of

pulling to each side and punch a bunch of holes in it no one could predict where the tear would

occur. In addition to that, if you pop a balloon it sends a bunch of stress waves out through the

highly stressed wall of the balloon. The stress from the existing stress plus the stress waves

highly irritate the balloons wall thus leading to it to pop. Stress just might be enough to begin at

site other cracks that will teeter on the edge of bursting (Science).

What is Surface Area?

Surface is the outer boundary of an object or body. Surface area means all the area that

you can see in two dimension. This means the length and width. For example, the surface area of

a wall is anything you can paint, or the surface area of a floor is anything you can walk on

(Merriam). So the surface area of a rectangle, circle, triangle, or other two-dimensional shapes

are simply a measurement of everything within the lines of the shape. In a three-dimensional

shape like a cube, pyramid, or a sphere you can not see all of the surfaces or sides at once, so in

this case that means adding up all the areas to each individual side together. Surface area is the

total amount of area of a three dimensional object. It can also be the total amount of are covered
 Letwin4

on a surface (Is).

What is the Most Effective Way to Measure the Volume of a Balloon?

One method is using displaced water volume. You will fill a large bucket with water, and

mark its original water line. Then completely submerge the balloon and mark the new displaced

water line. Take the volume value of the second water line and subtract the first volume value to

calculate the volume of the balloon. Another method is to measure the circumference and

calculate the radius then solve for the volume. You will begin by getting a piece of string and

wrapping it around the middle of the balloon. After that you will straighten the string and

measure its linear length. Then you will plug the length into the formula for spherical

circumference which is 2r. Solve for r. Then plug the value of r into the spherical volume
4
formula which is 3 r3 . This now gives you the volume of the gas inside the balloon (Total).

It wasn't long after Professor Faradays invention, people realized that you could have

some fun with balloons. The rubber balloons we know today were not manufactured in the

United States until 1907. In the late-1930s, the Americans realized a new art form of twisting

balloons to create animal shapes. A big advancement in recreational balloons were something

called foil balloons which were rigid and held air better and were introduced in the late 1970s.

One other great advantage about the foil balloons were that they were able to hold their shape

much better than the regular rubber balloons so they were much better for sending messages such

as Happy birthday! or Its a boy! Balloons know come in many forms and sizes and can be

used for military communications, scientific experiments, and transportation(The). These objects

are great toys but also useful tools which intrigued me into learning more about them.

If you watch a green, blue, yellow, and orange balloon fill up with baking soda and vinegar, then
 Letwin5

the orange balloon with expand the farthest.

 Letwin6

Work Cited

Balzer, Mark. "How Do Balloons Pop?" Balloon HQ. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Nov. 2016.

<https://www.balloonhq.com/faq/howpop.html>.

Buddies, Science. "Size-Changing Science: How Gases Contract and Expand." Scientific

American. SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, A DIVISION OF NATURE AMERICA, INC., 5

June 2014. Web. 01 Nov. 2016.

<https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/size-changing-science-how-gases-contract-an

d-expand/>.

By Posting Your Answer, You Agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Service. "How Can I

Measure the Volume of a Balloon?" Thermodynamics. Stack Exchange Inc; User

Contributions Licensed under Cc By-sa 3.0 with Attribution Required, 2016. Web. 04

Nov. 2016.

<http://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/161854/how-can-i-measure-the-volume-of-a

-balloon>.

Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster, 1828. Web. 04 Nov. 2016.

<http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/surface%20area>.

Rowley, Kevin. "Which Color Balloon Will Expand the Farthest Using a Chemical Reaction?"

Personal interview. 26 Nov. 2016.

"Science Shorts - The Weekend Edition - What Happened To My Balloon?" Science Shorts -

The Weekend Edition - What Happened To My Balloon?Little Bang Productions. All

Rights Reserved., 2005. Web. 01 Nov. 2016.

<http://www.scienceshorts.com/Ssw/051210.htm>.
 Letwin7

"The History of Balloons." Balloon HQ Presents: The History of Balloons. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Feb.

2017.

"Total Surface Area: Definition & Formula." Study.com. Study.com, 2003. Web. 05 Nov. 2016.

<http://study.com/academy/lesson/total-surface-area-definition-formula.html>.

"UCSB Scienceline." UCSB Scienceline. The Regents of the University of California, 2015.

Web. 01 Nov. 2016. <http://scienceline.ucsb.edu/getkey.php?key=4147>

"What Happens When You Mix Vinegar and Baking Soda?" Reference. Reference An IAC

Publishing Labs Company, 2016. Web. 01 Nov. 2016.

<https://www.reference.com/science/happens-mix-vinegar-baking-soda-750bae24a1cb5b1

a>.

"What Is Area?" What Is Area? MathsIsFun.com, 2014. Web. 03 Nov. 2016.

<https://www.mathsisfun.com/geometry/area.html>.